HC relief to Priyanka, stays order on land info

Vijay Arora

Legal Correspondent

Shimla, July 7

The Himachal Pradesh High Court today gave interim relief to Priyanka Vadra by staying an order passed by the State Information Commission asking the Shimla Deputy Commissioner to provide details of a Mashobra land purchased by her to an RTI applicant.

A Special Division Bench comprising Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice PS Rana passed the interim order on a petition filed by Priyanka through her special power of attorney Sankaran Ramakrishnan.

She had challenged the June 29 order passed by the State Information Commission saying it had failed to appreciate the fact that the information sought by RTI applicant Dev Ashish Bhatcharya concerned a private property and thus the information was personal to her.

It was further contended that the commission failed to consider that the supply of information would infringe upon the personal rights of the petitioner and invade her privacy.

“Every citizen has the right to seek information, while enforcing his or her fundamental rights envisaged under the Constitution of India but such rights are subject to reasonable restrictions, as enumerated under Section 8 of the Right to Information Act, 2005. Thus by no stretch of imagination can it be said that the right of an individual to claim information is absolute and unrestricted,” the petition said.

The Principal Secretary (Revenue); State Information Commission; Additional District Magistrate, Shimla; Deputy Commissioner, Shimla; and applicant Devashsish Bhatacharya have been named as respondents in the case. The court directed the respondents to file their response within four weeks and listed the matter for August 7.

On January 27, the Deputy Commissioner had denied information to the RTI petitioner on the grounds that giving out of information could have a direct bearing on Priyanka’s security since she was an SPG protectee.

Aggrieved by the order, the RTI applicant challenged the same before the Information Commission. While disposing of the appeal of the RTI applicant, the Information Commission directed the Deputy Commissioner, Shimla, to provide the entire information sought by Dev Ashish Bhattacharya within 10 days.